Real LI

The Nassau County Bar Association may be offering some free legal advice to borrowers caught in the mortgage crisis.

One idea that’s been floated is a sort of hotline where attorneys would donate their time to answer questions, such as whether borrowers have grounds to sue and what step to take next, said Abraham Krieger, co-chair of newly-created subprime subcommittee, which falls under the real property law committee.

“One of the things that we’re trying to do is integrate a program within the bar association itself, where borrowers might be able to have a place to go and at least a call to make and maybe the opportunity to interview or speak with an attorney initially to get some direction as to how and what to do with their loans,” said Krieger, a partner in the Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein firm, based in Garden City.

For many troubled borrowers, they're so in debt or short of money that they can't afford to pay a lawyer for advice.

Krieger said help from lawyer volunteers can be like initial consultations. The borrower and attorney can decide if a lawsuit should be filed, Krieger said, but that would be done outside the bar association’s purview. The trade group’s role does not cover filing and fighting suits on behalf of people, he said.

It’ll take about a month or two to set up any hotline and organize help efforts, the subcommittee head said. Retired judge Samuel Levine is the other co-chair.

“We certainly want to move quickly on this because the list of borrowers in the middle of this subprime turmoil is only growing,” Krieger said. “It’s not being reduced. So the sooner we come up with something more formal, the sooner we can act on it.”

Francisco D'Agostino has filed a lawsuit in Manhattan against a Sag Harbor homeowner for what the suit claims were subpar living conditions for the $3,600-a-day rental.

D'Agostino, who has homes in Manhattan and Venezuela, claims that when he brought his family to stay at the home on Maple Lane, he was greeted with a foul stench, and bedsheets and towels soaked in urine. The D'Agostinos quickly found other digs.

The Daily News reports that D'Agostino is seeking damages of $100,000 in the breach of contract suit against homeowner Walter Schupfer over the rental gone awry.

From today's Newsday:

When real estate investor James Skinner and his business partner Ken Klein toured the Bellmore home they purchased as an investment a year ago, they scrutinized the condition of the basics: the windows, the roof, the bedrooms and bathrooms.

The one element theEast Meadow-based men overlooked may cost them a few thousand dollars to fix.

"After all these years of investing, we missed it," says Skinner, referring to the vertical split in the trunk of the oak tree on the left corner of the property's front yard. Skinner and Klein came across the split, most visible 10 feet up the trunk, about a month ago. If not taken down, Skinner says, the tree could fall. He says it will cost $4,000 to remove it professionally.

Read on here.

Check out today's Newsday real estate cover story about the five questions every home buyer should ask. In Ronkonkoma nurse Cathy Wirtenson's case, it should have been -- Is my house in a high water table?

Photo by Patrick Oehler